I almost dare not post this given the ease with which my last query was solved to my utter embarrassment. I am confident that this is a bit more challenging although I suspect someone may well prove me wrong.
My Avatar photo was taken in the back yard of of a Shakespeare Street, Carlisle terraced house after a wedding that took place in the Summer of 1912. Just look at those hats! The wedding was of Police Constable John James Turnbull and Annie Skinner b 11/10/1885. The groom was my fathers Uncle who inspired my father to join the police service himself. My father, before he died, wrote a note explaining that, seated directly next to the groom was; Grooms mother Sarah Anne and then next to her was the Grooms father William Turnbull. I think William was born in 1857 and Sarah 1862 but am not certain.
The birth certificate for John James shows he is the son of William Turnbull, a labourer at the Brick works. The mother was Sarah Ann Turnbull (formerly Tiffin). Sarah signed an x and she registered the birth on 1st May 1886. John James was born on 20/3/1886 at Charlotte Terrace, Botcherby, Carlisle. John had an older sister Jane born in 1883.
So the family was William Turnbull b 1857, Sarah Ann Turnbull nee Tiffin b 1862, Jane Turnbull b 1883 and John James Turnbull b 1886
I have John James in every subsequent census including the 1939 but there is a big question mark over the 1891 entry. In 1891 I find William and Sarah Ann Turnbull living together in Caldewgate but without the children listed. Separately, I found a John James Turnbull aged 5 in Caldewgate living at 9 Holme Court which my research shows was actually on Milbourne Street. The transcript shows his birth in Scotland but viewing the actual record it appears to be Botcherby, Carlisle. The only problem is he is with grandparents and their surname is Smith when Sara Ann had the maiden name Tiffin. I can only think of two possible explanation: That there are two identically named 5 year olds in the area or Sarah Ann was a widow aged just 20 when she married William. I favour the former. I cannot find Jane at all on the 1891 and my hunch is that wherever they were, the children were together.
It gets worse in that I cannot find a marriage for William Turnbull and Sarah Ann Tiffin. I have William and Sarah Ann Turnbull on the 1911 census at 6 Norfolk Street Carlisle and that lists 29 years of marriage suggesting the marriage was circa 1882. The 1911 census also suggests Sarah had 3 children but only one, John James, remained alive in 1911. She had Jane in 1883 which fits nicely with the notion of an 1882 marriage but I cannot find how, when or where Jane died and if she had married. I have an unmarried Jane on the 1901 census with her parents and John James at 4 Randall street, Carlisle. I have a possible marriage of a Jane Turnbull to Issac Robson in July 1905 in Carlisle but still no obvious death jumps out. I have no idea who the third child was or when it died.
I suspect Sara Ann Tiffin was the one born at Wigton in 1862 and perhaps died at Carlisle in 1st Quarter 1924. William was clearly alive in the wedding photo in summer of 1912 but could be one of several subsequent deaths.
I am willing to start spending on ordering some more certificates but want to avoid ordering the wrong ones if at all possible. I want to spend wisely and without missing any obvious and easy enquiries that may get me close to solutions first. Plus, if I cannot find the marriage in any index then I simply cannot order the certificate.
The goals I have set myself are:
Find the marriage and obtain the certificate for the marriage of Sarah Ann Tiffin and William Turnbull
Find John James and Jane Turnbull as children on the 1891 census.
Find the death for Jane (clearly between 1901 and 1911) and any marriage if there was one.
Find the name, birth and death of the third child and get certificates if necessary.
Obtain the correct death certificates for William and Sarah Ann Turnbull.
Any help in solving these problems will be very greatly appreciated. If I cannot solve them then I am interested to learn any theories about why or any advice anyone has in connection with them.
